


Something New

by Feena_c



Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, touches of main plot but not direct usually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 12:16:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14105196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feena_c/pseuds/Feena_c
Summary: Follows the adventures of my exploration main in GW2, Tenoar.  Generally light with a good deal of wonder at the world, touches of main story along the way and interaction with other original characters.





	1. Divinity's Reach

Tenoar glanced up from his map to stare at the diverging streets in front of him again. He’d asked directions from a shopkeeper a few buildings back, and at the time he’d been sure they made sense but now he was standing in confusion. Again. He’d made it from the Grove to Divinity’s Reach with no problem; he’d found the maps easy to follow out there. But in here the many little winding side streets and diverging levels was making it very difficult for him to get to the inn the lady in Queensdale had recommended to him. Everything looked the same, only the street names seemed to differ and it was sometimes hard to find the signs.

  
Tenoar wrinkled his features up in thought and ran a hand through his hair. He’d simply have to ask someone again he supposed. He glanced around briefly. So far almost all the humans he’d spoken to had been friendly and helpful, and he was naturally outgoing so he wasn’t nervous about speaking to strangers. The lady with all the shopping bags looked awfully busy though. That gentleman trying to herd two little ones with him up the sidewalk probably wouldn’t appreciate a distraction either. Ah, a Seraph! Perfect. Tenoar hopped off the sidewalk and crossed to the tall man in uniform presumably patrolling down the street.

  
“Excuse me.” Tenoar said warmly. The man glanced down and stopped.  He had to look a good way down to see Tenoar. Tenoar was unusually short for his people, and the guard was well above average for his.

  
“Good afternoon. Can I help you?” The seraph replied cordially.

  
“I’m sorry to interrupt your, uh" Tenoar searched for the word. "Patrol, but yes. I’m trying to get to… ‘Applenook Inn’? I’ve been given directions but I can’t seem to get there. I keep ending up back in this loop.” Tenoar gestured to his map and then at the curving street they were on. The seraph adjusted his posture to better see the map.

  
“The upper and lower levels can be confusing to visitors. There are limited ways to get between the city levels.” The seraph looked at the map and the place where the inn the sylvari had mentioned was to try and think of the simplest way to send him.  
“What brings you to Divinity’s Reach?” he asked as he mentally laid out the route.

  
“Exploring! In my dream I saw bits of so many places, I wanted to get out and see them all as soon as I could, and find more for the Pale Tree to learn about!” Tenoar explained enthusiastically. The seraph raised an eyebrow curiously. The sylvari read his face.  
“Oh, sorry. That probably doesn’t make sense. I was told that other races don’t dream.” Tenoar tilted his head slightly, almost turning his statement into a question.

  
“Humans dream, but I think it might be different than….what you were referring to.”  Erabast he’d seen sylvari before a few times passing through the city but he’d never gotten to speak to one of them.He'd only heard a few rumors about them.

  
“You do? What are your dreams like?” Tenoar had completely forgotten about the map in his hands, his curiosity always getting the better of him.

The seraph opened his mouth to answer, but he stopped, realizing this conversation might take some time.  
“I think that may be a more in depth conversation than we should have standing in the street. You said you were heading to an inn? To stay? You don’t know anyone here in the city?” He asked, then mentally rolled his eyes at himself.  Of course he'd be going to an inn to stay, what else would he be going for?

  
“No, at least, there’s not anyone here I know that I know.” Tenoar bumbled through his reply, his mind turning back to more concrete matters.

The seraph smiled lightly at his mixed up response.  
“Well then, how about you skip the inn and stay with me and my father? My patrol isn’t much longer, I can give you a bit of a tour on the way back to headquarters and then I’m off for the evening, and perhaps we can have an...interesting talk.” The seraph’s own curiosity had been well and truly sparked. He knew his father would be interested too, and this particular sylvari seemed quite ready to share.

  
Tenoar smiled broadly up at his tall new friend. “I’d love that!"

  
The seraph put out his hand; Tenoar had learned enough of human culture on his trip up to know to grasp it and shake.  
“I’m Erabast DeLaney. A pleasure. You are?”

  
“My name’s Tenoar.”

  
Erabast started walking again and Tenoar fell into step beside him, although he had to move quite briskly to keep up with Erabast’s long stride. Erabast pointed out things “of interest” on their way; he’d been a seraph for a number of years and they’d been given a basic spiel to give to guests in his training. Beyond that he knew a lot as he’d grown up in Divinity’s Reach. He could frankly give a “better” tour in the lower level in his opinion, but Tenoar seemed quite pleased with the historical information Erabast could dole out as they made their way to the seraph station.

  
“Lieutenant.” A seraph on guard at the headquarters’ greeted Erabast.

  
“Marquet.” Erabast nodded and asked Tenoar to wait in the main room briefly while he checked in and took care of a couple things before leaving for the night. Tenoar sat patiently in the lobby for all of three minutes before he was up and peering into adjacent rooms and examining the decorative armors and weapons adorning the walls. The guard at the door glanced back occasionally, keeping an eye on the sylvari more out of amusement than suspicion. Tenoar would have made a fine spy, he looked so unthreatening and child like, at least by human standards. The height had a lot to do with it. Unfortunately for any spy networks looking for recruits Tenoar was exactly as he appeared; an extremely inquisitive, and young, self titled “explorer”. Erabast returned to the main room and cleared his throat. Tenoar wheeled around, he didn’t have quite enough sense of human culture to be embarrassed by his obvious exploration of the room, and began asking Erabast about the triad of swords above the entry way.

  
Erabast chuckled and went through the story of “old Commander Duggery Eagle Eye” who seemed to be everywhere and know everything in Divinity’s Reach in his day; the man never tired and was able to be anywhere there was trouble in the city at a moment’s notice. Turned out he was actually three; identical brothers that is. The Queen at the time, this was many years before Jenna, had been pressured by the nobles into issuing charging for “impersonating an officer”, but each of them claimed that he HAD passed his training and, as they were identical, his, or rather their, old trainer couldn’t identify who he’d given the papers to, or who had even been at the training camp for that matter. Finally the Seraph troops had raised enough signatures on a petition to get the matter dropped and all three brothers had stayed in the Seraph; keeping the city peaceful for another eight years before they all tried some acrobatic stunt for the Seraph charity festival that had ended in….well, Erabast felt it best to leave out any details regarding fiery deaths. He just said it was a tragic, though hilarious accident and the trio of Commanders was fondly regarded to this day. Tenoar had been completely enraptured by the story, he adored history.

They were now back to Erabast’s home in the southwest quadrant of the lower city. Erabast opened the door and gestured for Tenoar to go in as he held the door. Tenoar was just starting to look around the room as Erabast shut the door behind them when he jumped at a loud noise. A large, drooly, shambling creature came bounding towards him; it was tall enough to have it’s head on a level with Tenoar’s chest. Tenoar grinned as the creature loudly sniffed the sapling. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you. This is Mephisto, my dog.”

Tenoar had heard of dogs before, he’d seen some on the farms but never one this big. “Can I pet him?” Tenoar asked as Mephisto drooled into the backpack the sylvari had been holding just above the ground as they’d come in.  Tenoar already had his hand poised, it was a good thing Mephisto was a big softie. 

“Sure, he’s very friendly. As you might have noticed.” Erabast laughed teasingly. Tenoar smiled and started rubbing the animal behind the ears just like he would with a fern hound. Mephisto approved most highly and rewarded the sylvari with an enthusiastic and all encompassing face lick with plenty of drool. Tenoar didn't seem the least put off by this, but Erabast quickly found a towel just the same.

  
“Well now, who’s this?” Tenoar looked up and saw an old, or maybe not, but frail looking man leaning in the doorframe that led into the next room.

  
“Dad, this is Tenoar. He’s visiting the city and I invited him to stay with us tonight. Tenoar, this is my father, Tullius.”  
Tenoar smiled up at the man, who would have been about as tall as Erabast had he not been hunching over.

“A pleasure to meet you.” Tenoar greeted.

  
“Ahh, a sylvari. A pleasure to meet you as well young man. When did you arrive in our fine city?” Erabast smiled to himself as he moved to remove his boots by the door. Tullius loved to talk to travelers or new people, but it was hard for him to find a partner these days with his health. The neighbors who came to help out and visit were not frequent or varied enough to keep Tullius entertained and reading had become more difficult for him lately as well. Tenoar was already off and running explaining how he’d heard about the inn he’d approached Erabast about from a woman who’s orchard was infested with spiders. Tenoar had helped to get rid of them, and she’d given him 'a whole pie as a thank you!'

Erabast had underestimated just how much talking Tullius and Tenoar could really do. He had work tomorrow, and when after dinner chatting stretched into the wee hours he finally excused himself. He tried to offer his bed to Tenoar but the sylvari insisted he’d be perfectly comfortable on the couch and did not want to inconvenience them in any way. Erabast instructed Tenoar to order Mephisto off the couch if the dog got too friendly and headed for bed. He heard Tullius and Tenoar’s voices softly up until he went to sleep.


	2. Learning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tenoar doesn't know what is and isn't strange, and Erabast introduces him to books.

Erabast glanced over at Tenoar through the crowd. It was market day and Tenoar had been very excited about the opportunity to go see a human market with Erabast. Erabast himself didn't normally think much of the market; visiting it was simply a task that had to be done every week. For Tenoar however it was a grand adventure, as was everything. Or so it seemed to Erabast. Honestly he found it charming in spite of it making him want to laugh at the kid almost constantly. This particular trip was becoming something more of an adventure than usual. It was always crowded and now Erabast was really noticing it as he was trying to keep track of a child sized companion. Hence the glancing back with frequency.

Tenoar seemed quite comfortable however, he'd weave in and out of the throng to look closer at stalls and find his way back to Erabast's side just quietly enough to startle the man when he commented on the goods he'd seen. Tenoar seemed to have been waylaid this time however. Mr. Rochester. Of course it was. The man was nothing if not a talker and Tenoar loved to listen. Well, perhaps it was for the best. Erabast signaled Tenoar that he would be back and went about actually getting the items he'd set out for; returning to the stall about 15 minutes later. Sure enough Rochester was still going. Tenoar had found a barrel to sit on and was listening intently to the man's opinion on that season's turnip crop. The man was also loading up a basket with "recommended" purchases. Erabast approached and eyed it critically. Tenoar had some money, and Erabast wasn't normally one to interfere in other people's business but he felt a certain protectiveness for Tenoar, even if he'd only known him a week, and didn't want him to be taken advantage of. Tenoar noted Erabast's return and slipped off the barrel and politely began excusing himself while removing items from the basket. He did buy a few and was quite complimentary of them before turning to fallow Erabast.

"All done?" Tenoar asked.

"Yes. You?" Erabast returned the question.

Tenoar giggled. "Oh yes, that man was very helpful in telling me about things I should try while I'm here. And places I should visit on my way east."

Erabast directed them down a side street to avoid the crowd at the Harrington produce stall. "Still planning on heading towards Hoelbrak?" he asked.

"Oh yes, although I may stop in a place called Lion's Arch first. Practically everyone I meet seems to tell me to go there, including your father the other afternoon." Tenoar was staring at his feet, seemingly trying to step on only the gray stones as opposed to the ones with reddish hues.

Erabast smiled absently. His father loved Lion's Arch, one of the best places in the world to meet people and trade stories. Yes, if it was what his father described Tenoar would like it. Erabast himself had never been there, he'd been born and raised in Divinity's Reach and beyond some Seraph postings in the Hinterlands and Queensdale he'd never left. Tenoar went on to share a story he'd heard from an Asura he'd met a couple days before who'd told him about Moa racing while they made their way home.

Erabast was on duty that evening, so an early dinner was planned. Erabast set about getting things together in the kitchen once they were back at the house while Tenoar flitted around him, helping and getting in the way in turn. He had only done a little bit of cooking before coming to Divinity's Reach, mostly consisting of burning things over camp fires on his trip, but he'd developed a mighty interest in learning more and was in the kitchen whenever Erabast was. Erabast himself was not exactly a great cook, but he could follow a recipe and showed Tenoar several he'd gotten from neighbors over the years. Tenoar had dutifully copied each one into one of his several notebooks; and in fact was doing so again at this moment as Erabast hadn't anything he could really help with tonight.

"Hey, can I try making these? I have most of the ingredients myself, I would just need to borrow some….flour and cinnamon if you have it?" Tenoar looked up.

Erabast turned slightly from the counter."You can have whatever you need. What are 'these' though?" He asked.

"Apple turnovers." Tenoar held up the recipe and grinned. He'd picked up quite a liking for apples cooked any which way it seemed to Erabast. 

Erabast shrugged, he'd never tried that recipe himself, baking was finicky and took too long usually. Tenoar took the motion as an affirmative and set about pulling things out of his basket. Tullius was resting in a sort of cushioned chair in what they called the living room, though it was really just an extension of the kitchen, observing the proceedings. Tenoar began haphazardly adding ingredients, having not yet learned to read through an entire recipe for the instructions before beginning. Erabast wasn't paying much attention to him, only occasionally glancing over, that is until Tenoar got to the butter. He'd carefully set out two sticks, then grabbed a third. He unwrapped it and after a moment of examining it stuck it in his mouth and bit down.

Tullius made a noise between a gasp and a laugh, which caused Erabast to turn and stare. He'd seen Tenoar do some weird things in the past week but...ew. He did very much want to see how this was going to go though. Tenoar tried to chew, made a thoughtful face and swallowed. So it went till he'd eaten the whole stick. He turned to Erabast when he was finished.

"How was it?" Erabast asked.

"It has a lovely texture." Tenoar said, smiling.

Erabast raised one eyebrow. "Uhh...good." he blinked once, processing. "Why did you...do that?" he asked, lacking a better approach.

"Huh? Should I not have?" Tenoar looked concerned, he was afraid he'd done something offensive.

"No, it's fine. Well, kind of...gross I guess but...look, people don't normally just eat butter." Erabast tried to explain.

"They don't? Mr. Rochester said it was the best food in Tyria." Tenoar was clearly confused. He saw no reason the butter should be any different from the bar of chocolate Erabast had given him yesterday or the banana he'd had in the Queensdale market.

Erabast snorted and turned back to the sink with a smile. "Ok, that's debatable. But we don't typically just eat it regardless. It's meant to be an ingredient, or used like a condiment." Erabast dried the knife he'd been using and put it in the rack. "What's a condiment?" Tenoar asked.

Erabast looked back at him. It was continually strange to him the things Tenoar did and did not know. He had been talking to Tullius about the history of Ascalon and knew some obscure generals' names because of....reasons. He'd told Erabast and Tullius about how he knew about the Spirits of the Wild of the Norn and how to ice fish the moment he'd "awoken" because he'd seen them in The Dream, something Erabast still found baffling. Yet he didn't know what condiments were. Tullius was laughing softly in his chair, having finally gotten over watching Tenoar eat a whole stick of butter.

"They're--look, I'll bring you home a book from the library on it later ok?" Erabast knew enough of Tenoar to know if he started explaining condiments it would lead to other questions and he wasn't prepared to teach anyone about cooking terminology.

Tenoar tilted his head. "What's a library?"

Tullius leaned forward in his chair abruptly. "What?!" he bellowed. Tenoar jumped. Erabast just stared. Well, he knew where he was taking Tenoar tomorrow.

\---

Tenoar didn't even glance up at the loud laughter over by the counter; he didn't even really hear it. He was sitting, legs swinging as they dangled from the too tall chair, completely engrossed in his book. He had in fact been in this posture for several hours. Erabast had brought him to the largest library in Divinity's Reach the day before yesterday and Tenoar had come back on his own the next day, and again today. In addition to also taking books back to Erabast's home in the evening to share. Erabast was rather too busy to sit around in the evening with them but Tullius enjoyed Tenoar's book reviews immensely. In point of fact Tenoar had barely slept the last two nights as he'd spent most of them reading, curled up on the couch with Mephisto occasionally licking his hand to remind the sylvari to pet him. He wanted to absorb every bit of knowledge he could; the world was so much bigger than he'd even imagined. And old. History about things Tenoar had never heard of before; dwarves, human cities across the sea, ancient creatures that fed on magic, there was so much he didn't know about. He wished he could pack up all the books here and take them with him. He wanted to be traveling again, too. The places he read about -- he wanted to see them, not just read about them. It was frustrating and exhilarating at the same time. There was so much he wanted to do. Tenoar finished his book and set it aside, ready to start on another when he noticed how the shadows in the room had changed; the sun was setting.

Tenoar hopped up and gathered the books he hadn';t had time to read into his arms and approached the counter. He had to lift the books to eye level to slide them to the clerk.

"Hello again. Goodness, how do you get through all these?" Agatha, the woman who checked the books in and out, smiled down at him over the desk.

"I'm a fast reader, apparently." Tenoar shrugged and returned the smile. He really had no idea what was normal, but Agatha, Tullius and Erabast had all commented on how quickly he seemed to get through books. He was rather pleased, considering the only things he'd read before being introduced to the library were maps and road signs.

"Very fast. Keep up this pace and you'll be through our whole stock in a few weeks. I don't think I've had someone check out so many books so quickly...ever!" She wrote the due dates dutifully in the cards in each book despite suspecting srongly that Tenoar would be bringing them back the next day.

"I'm surprised there aren't more people here. I suppose everyone who lives here has read them all already." Tenoar looked around, the place had a few children and older folks, but it was never bustling.

Agatha sighed a bit at his statement. "I seriously doubt that. I suppose they are too busy though, life can be hard." She stacked the books and offered to pack them into Tenoar's backpack, which he accepted.

"What do you mean?" Tenoar asked, ever looking for more information.

Agatha blinked at him. "Well... just...life can be hard, you know? Sometimes people are too busy to be able to read. People have to feed themselves." She shrugged a shoulder helplessly. In her eyes Tenoar seemed a child, and she wasn't prepared to get into a depressing lesson on economics, the on-going war with the centaurs, and 'real life' with him.

Tenoar nodded thoughtfully, thinking of the farmers he'd met on his way to Divinity's Reach. They certainly seemed to be busy all the time. He thanked Agatha and hefted the backpack onto his shoulders, jogging out into the street. He adjusted the tightly pulled straps as he briskly trotted for home. 'Life could be hard'. He meditated on her words as he looked around the streets. People here seemed to be working all the time, that was sure. Some were happy and smiled at him as he passed, some were not. Some people looked cross, or tired. Tenoar wondered what made the difference, he didn't know. In his brief few weeks of life he hadn't experienced anything but continuing wonder at the world, sometimes with some confusion. Tullius and Erabast at least seemed happy, although sometimes Erabast looked a little...sad, too? Tenoar wasn't very good with emotions yet, but he could tell. He'd catch it in Erabast's eye sometimes when he turned, or was staring at something for a while. Tenoar wasn't sure why, but he thought it had something to do with Tullius. Although that didn't seem to make sense either. Tullius and Erabast seemed to get on very well. Apparently Tullius was Erabast's father, whatever that meant. It was some familial term. Sylvari didn't have fathers, they had the Pale Mother. Tenoar was still wrapping his mind around the whole concept of 'family' according to humans. Humans seemed to have a very different idea of it than he did. For him, all sylvari were family. But humans seemed to reserve that name for only small, select groups. Tenoar wasn't sure how people became family. But if they were family, Tenoar wasn't sure why Erabast would be sad about Tullius at all. Tenoar heard a loud bark and glanced up to see Mephisto in the yard, barking a greeting to his new friend and wagging his entire back end. Tenoar forgot what he'd been mulling over and grinned, running to meet the dog.


End file.
